Heavy ordnance.



A. T. DAWSON & J. HORNE.

HEAVY ORDNANOE.

APPLICATION FILED 111111.29, 1912. I

Patented 0013'. 15, 1912.

5 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Inv anions 340M470 Witnesses. mm/aw 7. K AAWW.

COLUMBIA Pumumupn co.. WASHINGTON, u. c.

MMLWW- I A. T. DAWSON &J. HORNE.

HEAVY OEDNANGE. 4 APPLICATION nun MAE.29,1912.

1,041,249. Patented 051;. 15, 1912;

6 SHEETS-SHEBT 2.

Witnesses.

Inventors COLUMBIA PLANDGRAPH Co.. WASHINGTON. Dv c A. T. DAWSON & J. HORNE. HEAVY ORDNANGE. APPLICATION FILED MAR.29, 191,2.

1,041,249.. Patented 00t.15,1912.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Witnesses.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO.,WA5HXNGTON. D. C,

A. T. DAWSON & J. HORNE. HEAVY ORDNANCE.

. APPLICATION FILED MAE.29,1912.

1,041,249. Patented 001;. 15, 1912.

. p CL 5SHEETS SHEET4.

Witnesses.

ZK/WWL.

I mzentors cuLumxu ru-Nuaumm CU..W/\SHINGTON. u c.

A. T. DAWSON & J. HORNE.

HEAVY ORDNANCE.

APPLICATION FILED MAB..29,1'912.

1,041,249. Patented Oct. 15, 1912 5 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

WitnesseS- fi ygventom COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH COQWASHiNGTON. Din.

" TED STATES PATENT @FFTQE.

ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON, OF WESTMINSTER, LONDON, AND JAMES HORNE, OF BAR- RO'W-IN-FURNESS, ENGLAND, ASSIGNORS TO VICKE RS LIMITED, OF WESTMINSTER,

ENGLAND.

HEAVY ORDNANCE.

1,0at-L249.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 15, 1912.

Application filed March 29, 1912. Serial No. 687,114.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, ARTHUR TREVOR Dawson, knight, and JAMES HORNE, both subjects of the King of Great Britain, re siding, respectively, at Vickers House, Broadway, Westminster, in the county of London, England, and Naval Construction Works, Barrow-in-Furness, in the county of Lancaster, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to Heavy Ordnance, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mountings for heavy ordnance of the kind in which two or more guns are moved simultaneously during elevation, and in which the correction for difference in muzzle velocity between the guns is eflected by changing their relative angle of elevation.

According to this invention we provide a device which is so constructed and arranged in relation to the elevating gear that during the elevation of the guns the said device automatically corrects the elevation to compensate for the difference in muzzle velocity existing between them. The said device may comprise a member which can be ini-' tially adjusted to accord with the known difference in muzzle velocity between the guns and which is so arranged that it will, during the elevation of the guns, cause an additional movement to be transmitted to the gun which is to be corrected, the magnitude of this movement depending upon the amount of adjustment initially given to the member in accordance with the difference in muzzle velocity. The said member may be adapted to cause the elevating pinion of one or more of the guns to be angularly moved relatively to the shaft on which it is mounted, in order to give to one of the guns the additional movement that is required.

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into eifect we will describe the same more fully with reference to the accompanying drawlngs 1n WlllCl12- Figure 1 1s a sectional side elevation, Fig.

2 an end elevation, and Fig. 3 a plan of a twin gun mounting provided with one constructional form of our improvements. Figs. 3 3 3 and 3 are enlarged views of parts of Figs. 1, 2 and 3 to show more clearly the said constructional form of the invention, Fig. 3 being a section taken approximately on the line .70, 5c of Fig. 3 Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively a side elevation and a plan of a detail hereinafter referred to, Fig. 6 is a section taken approximately on the line 11 of Fig. 5.

In all these figures like letters of reference indicate similar parts.

A, A are the guns, and B, B the slide frames, B is the gun platform or turntable, C, C are the elevating shafts and C is the clutch connecting them. C C are the elevating pinions gearing with the toothed elevating arcs B, B and C, C are the elevating motors interconnected by the transverse shaft 0.

D is the sight and D the sight setting hand wheel.

In the constructional form of the invention shown, the elevating pinion C is attached to the transverse elevating shaft 0 by means of a spiral or inclined key and keyway arrangement in the manner set forth in the specification of our Patent No. 4890 of 1907, and is adapted to be moved endwise by the device forming the subject of the present invention to impart the additional movements to one of the guns through the said key and keyway arrangement. The said device comprises, in the example shown, a spur wheel 0 which is connected to the elevating shaft C and which gears with a pinion c keyed to a spindle c carried in bearings 0" attached to the underside of the turntable B". The said spindle is as shown in Figs. l and 5 formed at opposite sides of its center with right and left handed screw threads engaging two nuts 0 c which move longitudinally in opposite directions when the screw threaded spindle c is rctated and which are prevented from rotating by the engagement of a rib or key G (Figs. 5 and 6) with slots formed therein. One or other of the said nuts is employed for transmitting movement to two bars C placed one above the other the connection between one of the nuts and the bars being effected by a saddle piece C Figs. l and 5) provided with two pins 0*, which engage the said upper and lower bars respectively. This saddle piece is adapted to engage with either of the nuts 0 c and may, as shown, be attached by screws to the one which is for the time being in use, and can also be locked to the same if desired by any suitable means, for example by a padlock engaging with a staple 0 provided on the nuts. Two gaps are formed at the outer ends of the aforesaid bars for the pins o of the saddle piece C", the center line of the said gaps being over the middle of the respective nuts when in the mean or zero position shown by Figs. 4 and 5. The said bars are pivoted to a ring C (Figs. 3 3 and 3) which fits in a groove in the sleeve 0 of the elevating pinion C The adjustment or setting of the appara tus for dilferences in muzzle velocity is effected by means of two longitudinally arranged screws C disposed one above the other and operated simultaneously by a hand wheel 0 through toothed gearing as shown Each screw is furnished with a crosshead 0 which is provided with a swiveling clip 0 in which each of the aforesaid bars C engages. The lower one of the two crossheads is, in the example shown, furnished with a pointer 0 moving over a scale c graduated to accord with differences in muzzle velocity in foot seconds.

YVhen the guns are coupled up and elevated with the pointer at zero c. with the parts in the position shown in the drawings) the aforesaid nuts 0 0 move to the right and left (under the influence of the right and left handed screws of the spindle c one of them 0 carrying the two bars 0 with it, but since the pointer is at zero no movement is given to the elevating pinion C as the center of oscillation of the bars C (represented by the swiveling clips 0 intersects the axis of the said pinion. If,however, the aforesaid swiveling clips have been moved by the longitudinally arranged screws C to a position for correcting for differences in muzzle velocity as indicated on the scale 0 by the pointer 0 the said swiveling clips become the new fixed centers about which the bars C are angularly displaced, and as the said bars are caused to oscillate by the longitudinal movement of the nut when the guns are elevated, the elevating pinion C is moved axially by the ring C thereby causing the said pinion to be angularly displaced on its shaft by means of the inclined key and keyway connection, to make the necessary correction. The correction thus obtained by the movement of the gun in elevation, is accurate only so long as the ship on which the guns are mounted is level. In order, therefore, that this adjustment may be maintained irrespective of the rolling of the ship, under conditions where it is desired to follow the object (target) when the ship is rolling, or irrespective of the heel of ship if it is desired to lay the guns when the ship has a permanent heel, we may connect theaforesaid spur wheel 0 to the elevating shaft through the intervention of a clutch 0 which is normally held in engagement with .35 the elevating shaft and the spur wheel by; a-

spring, but which, by the depression ofv a pedal D or similar contrivance may be freed so as to disconnect the said spur wheel from the elevating'shaftwhen the sight line 15 normal. to a plane containing the vertical axis of the ship. The said pedal is prefer-V ably as shown, arranged at the sighting position on the gun platform and is connected by links (Z, (l with the clutch C". I

An interlocking device is provided for cooperating with the range adJuSting handwheel D of the sight in order to lock the said hand wheel and prevent any change being made in the range setting apparatus of the sight during the time that. the clutch C is out of engagement. This is'an essential condition, as the amount of angular movement in elevation through which the corrections for difference in muzzle velocity have to be made, should correspond with the angular adjustment between the sight and the gun. The said clutch C is alsoso arranged that it will only engage with the spur wheel at one position with respect to the elevating shaft.

The said interlocking device is interposed between the said pedal D and the range adjusting hand wheel D of the sight and in the example shown comprises a flexible wire (Z connected at one end to the pedal, and at the other end to a'two armed lever d appertaining to a clutch" member D carried on a boss or sleeve formed on the supporting bracket of the said hand wheel I) and capable of sliding D is depressed, releases the said clutch member 1) which moves forward under the action of a spring and thereby locks the hand wheel. D, but when the pedal 1) is in its upper position the clutch is moved out thereon. The flexible wire, when the pedal of engagement with the hand wheel into the position shown in Fig. 1. It is also necessary to provide means whereby the correct elevation at which it is necessary to free the clutch C can be known, such position in elevation corresponding with the range angle between the gun and the sight when the sight line is normal to a plane containing the vertical axis of the ship, in other words, when the sight line is parallel with the roller path of the turret. This can be readily effected with a sight of the type set forth in the specification of our application for Patent No. 2923 of 1911 by providing a mark at the lower end of the lever that oscillates the upper prism, which mark reads against a corresponding mark on a fixed segmental guide bar.

With other forms of sighting apparatus, the position in elevation at which the clutch should be freed can be ascertained by means of a pointer connected by a link to the member which carries the periscope or other sight, the said pointer reading against a fixed mark on the turret structure.

It will be obvious that our improvements are applicable to two, three or more interconnected guns.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In mountings for heavy ordnance, the combination with the elevating mechanism of a plurality of guns, of means operating during the actuation of the elevating mechanism for automatically correcting the elevation of an individual gun for difierence in muzzle velocity.

2. In mountings for heavy ordnance, the combination with a plurality of guns having individual elevating mechanisms and means for operating them in common, of elevation correcting mechanism associated with an in dividual elevating mechanism of a gun and means for automatically actuating said elevatio-n correcting mechanism during the elevation of the guns.

3. In mountings for heavy ordnance, the combination with a plurality of guns having individual elevating mechanisms and means for operating them in common, of adjustable elevation correcting mechanism associated with an individual elevating mechanism of a gun and means for automatically actuating said individual elevation correcting mechanism during the elevation of the guns.

4. In mountings for heavy ordnance, the combination with the elevating pinions of a plurality of guns, of automatic means for causing relative angular movement to take place between said pinions during the ele vation of the guns.

5. In mountings for heavy ordnance, the

combination with the elevating pinions of a plurality of guns, of elevation correcting mechanism associated with one of said pinions, and means for automatically actuating said mechanism during the elevation of the guns.

6. In mountings for heavy ordnance, the combination with the elevating pinions of a. plurality of guns, of adjustable elevation correcting mechanism associated with one of said pinions and means for automatically actuating said mechanism during the elevation of the guns.

7. In mountings for heavy ordnance, the combination with the elevatingpinions of a plurality of guns, of a rotary elevating shaft, and elevation correcting mechanism associated with one of said pinions, and including an inclined key connection between the pinion and the rotary elevating shaft, together with automatic means for axially moving the pinion on the shaft during the elevation of the guns.

8. In mountings for heavy ordnance, the combination with the elevating pinions of a plurality of guns, a rotary elevating shaft and elevation correcting mechansm associated with one of said pinions, and including an inclined key connection between the pinion and the rotary elevating shaft, together with an adjustable automatic means for axially moving the pinion on the shaft during the elevation of the guns.

9. In mountings for heavy ordnance, the combination with the elevating pinions of a plurality of guns, of a rotary elevating shaft, an inclined key for connecting one of said pinions with the shaft, a correcting member connected to said pinion, a pivot for said member, mechanism for actuating said member during the elevation of the guns, and means for adjusting the pivot of said member.

10. In mountings for heavy ordnance the combination with the elevating pinions of a plurality of guns, of a rotary elevating shaft, an inclined key for connecting one of said pinions with the shaft, a correcting member connected to said pinion, a pivot for said member, mechanism for actuating said member during the elevation of the guns, means for adjusting the pivot of said member, and means for disconnecting the mechanism that actuates the member.

11. In mountings for heavy ordnance, the combination with the elevating pinions of a plurality of guns, of a rotary elevating shaft, an inclined key for connecting one of said pinions with the shaft, a correcting member connected to said pinion, a pivot for said member, mechanism for actuating said member during the elevation of the guns, means for adjusting the pivot of said member, 'a clutch forming part of the mecha- 1 means for adjusting the pivot of said memher, a clutch forming part of the mechanism for actuating the member, a pedal, and links connecting said pedal with the clutch.

In testimony whereof We affiX-our signatures in presence of two wltnesses.

ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON. JAMES HORNE.

Vitnesses to the signature of Arthur Trevor Dawson HENRY KING, JNO. R. GASWELL.

YVitnesses to the signature oi James Horne:

MARK G. ATKINSON, HENRY T. MoDowALL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents;

Washington, D. C. r 

